William Charles COX
Born 1883 in Charlwood, Surrey, England [20] [21]
Son of carpenter and builder Charles COX and Matilda Alice HURLOCK [20] [21]
He was one of seven children with an elder sister Dora and younger siblings Violet, Ernest, Walter, Reginald and Frederick [20]
In 1891 he was living with his parents, sisters Dora and Violet and brother Ernest at Page Wood Cottage in Charlwood, Surrey [20]
Later resided for many years with his parents and siblings at 26 Garabald Road in Reigate, Surrey - including in 1901 and 1911 [20]
In 1911 he was working as a Railway Engine Cleaner [20] or Railwayman [203]
Departed London, England on the steamship Pakeha on 13 April 1911 bound for Fremantle, Western Australia [203]
In Western Australia he worked for the Midland Railway Company [50]
Railway Fireman in Walkaway, during which time he lived at the Locomotive Sheds in Walkaway [50]
Came 2nd in the Maiden Race of 100 Yards at the Midland Railway Employees' Picnic in Dongara on 9 November 1912 [9: 15-Nov-1912]
Foundation Committee Member of the Walkaway branch of the Midland Railway Employees' Union 1913 [129: 17-Oct-1913]
Rendered a song at the send-off to the secretary of the Midland Railway Employees' Union in Walkaway on 3 May 1914 [31: 6-May-1914]
Passed as fit for active service in the Australian Imperial Force in Geraldton on 3 July 1915 [30: item 3437535]
Along with five other men accepted for service, he departed Geraldton by train on on Tuesday night 6 July 1915 [86: 6-Jul-1915]
Officially enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at Blackboy Hill camp in the Perth hills on 7 July 1915 [30: item 3437535]
Upon enlistment he was 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighed 152 pounds and had dark hazel eyes, brown hair and a fair complexion [30]
He was also noted as having the distinctive marks of scars on his right shin and the first finger of his left hand [30]
Gave his mother Mrs Matilda COX as his next of kin, her address being 28 Alsbrook Road in Red Hill, Surrey, England [30]
After training at North Essendon in Melbourne he was appointed to the 16th Battery of the 6th Field Artillery Brigade [30]
Embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia for active service abroad on the H.M.A.T. A34 Persic on 22 November 1915 [30]
Gunner 7986 in the Australian Imperial Force's 6th Field Artillery Brigade in France during the First World War [30]
Hospitalised in France with acute nephritis on 4 October 1916 and was invalided to England and then back to Australia [30]
Departed London, England on the steamship Ayrshire and arrived in Fremantle, Western Australia on 9 July 1917 [70]
Due to being medically unfit he was discharged from the Australian Imperial Force in Western Australia on 2 August 1917 [30]
Received the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal [30]
Married Florence May STRAHAN in 1918 [66]
Night Stationmaster of the Railway Station in Mingenew 1922-1925 [19] [86: 28-Nov-1922]
Member of the Mingenew Rifle Club in 1923 [86: 5-Jul-1923]
Stationmaster of the Railway Station in Coorow 1925-1937 [5: 5-Nov-1937]
Purchased the vacant Lots 91 and 92 of Victoria Location 2023 in the Coorow townsite on 15 May 1926 [27]
The two vacant blocks were purchased from the Midland Railway Company for £34 and were payable over 12 months [27]
By mid 1932 he had sold Lots 91 and 92, which were still vacant, to Mrs Lilian S. BINGHAM of Coorow [3]
He was one of 98 people from the Coorow district who signed a petition in 1929 for a local hotel license to be granted [39: 6-Feb-1929]
In August 1929 he remarked that the business through the railway in Coorow had almost doubled in a few years [4: 24-Aug-1929]
Member of the Coorow Tennis Club from 1931-32 to 1936-37 [5: 14-Oct-1932, 25-Oct-1935, 18-Dec-1936]
He was Chairman in 1931-31 and Treasurer in 1932-33 of the Coorow Tennis Club [4: 19-Sep-1931] [5: 14-Oct-1932]
Attended the Valedictory Dinner tendered to Alexander B. GLOSTER at the Coorow Hotel on Monday 3 July 1933 [5: 7-Jul-1933]
Attended the Official Opening of the Carnamah Golf Course at Centenary Park in Carnamah on Sunday 23 July 1933 [5: 28-Jul-1933]
Foundation Secretary of the Coorow Rifle Club 1934-1937 [5: 5-Jan-1934, 31-Jul-1936, 25-Jun-1937, 30-Jul-1937]
In July 1937 the Rifle Club presented him with a rose bowl in recognition of his three years of service as secretary [5: 16-Jul-1937]
First Aid Officer for the Coorow Football Club in 1934 [5: 20-Apr-1934]
Attended the Official Opening of the Coorow Golf Club's golf course in Coorow on Sunday 23 June 1935 [5: 28-Jun-1935]
Member of the Coorow Golf Club in 1935, 1936 and 1937 [5: 17-May-1935, 19-Jun-1936, 11-Jun-1937]
Attended the entertainment for the Commonwealth Grants Commission at the Coorow Hotel on 21 November 1935 [5: 29-Nov-1935]
Played for the combined Winchester-Waddy-Coorow tennis team against Carnamah-Parkinson on Sunday 5 April 1936 [5: 3-Apr-1936]
He and his wife were among those from Coorow who visited Perth during the Easter holidays in April 1936 [5: 17-Apr-1936]
During their stay in Perth he met with his sister who was passing via Fremantle by steamer, and who he hadn't seen in 20 years [5]
Attended the Coorow Golf Club's Opening Day for the 1936 season in Coorow on Sunday 17 May 1936 [5: 22-May-1936]
With his wife, spent some his annual leave in Perth in September 1936 [5: 25-Sep-1936]
Member of the Carnamah Sub-Branch of the Returned Soldiers League in 1937 [5: 30-Jul-1937]
Attended and competed at the Carnamah Golf Club's Season Opening at Centenary Park in Carnamah on 2 May 1937 [5: 7-May-1937]
He won the Monte Carlo dance with Mrs FARRELL at the Coorow Rifle Club's Presentation Dance on 10 July 1937 [5: 16-Jul-1937]
Attended the R.S.L. Valedictory for Charles A. METTAM at the lounge of the Carnamah Hotel on 28 July 1937 [5: 30-Jul-1937]
Father of Stanley [5: 5-Nov-1937]
Died 2 November 1937; buried at Karrakatta Cemetery in Perth, Western Australia (Anglican, ZC, 80) [2]
The Coorow and Namban rifle clubs observed two minutes silence in memory of him at their shoot on 7 November 1937 [12: 12-Nov-1937]
From The North Midland Times newspaper, Friday 5 November 1937:
Obituary - The Late Mr. William Charles Cox
"The death occurred at St. John of God Hospital, Subiaco, on Monday, November 1, when William Charles Cox, Stationmaster, of Coorow, passed away after several weeks illness. The deceased, who was 54 years of age, suffered indifferent health for some time and was also a victim of war injuries. The late Mr. Cox, who leaves a widow and a son, Stanley, to mourn their sad loss, had resided at Coorow as Stationmaster for approximately 12½ years, where he was held in the highest esteem. He took a keen interest in both tennis and rifle shooting and was secretary of the Coorow Rifle Club from its inception several years ago. The deceased was on active service in the Great War as a member of the 16th Battery, A.I.F., and was also a member of the Masonic Fraternity for many years."
From The North Midland Times newspaper, Friday 12 November 1937:
Funeral - The Late Mr. W. C. Cox
"The funeral of the late Mr. William Charles Cox, of Coorow, took place in the Church of England Cemetery, Karrakatta, on Thursday morning, November 4, in the presence of a large and representative gathering, the Rev. F. W. Gunning officiating at the graveside. Born in England 54 years ago, the late Mr. Cox had been a resident of this State for the past 27 years and had for a long time been an employee of the Midland Railway Company, rising to the position of stationmaster at Coorow. The chief mourners were the widow (Mrs. F. W. Cox), Stanley (son), Mrs W. Beattie (sister), Miss W. Beattie (niece), Messrs W. Beattie, L. J. Strahan and W. L. Cousins (brothers-in-law), and Mrs Ryan (sister-in-law). The pall-bearers were Messrs W. H. Hackfarth (representing the Staff Officer for Rifle Clubs), E. Watts, S. L. Folland (Coorow Rifle Club), A. Cooper (Lodge Friendship, W.A.C.), F. Horner (Midland Railway Co.), and J. Stephenson.
Among those present were Messrs W. Patrick, M.L.A., J. J. Poynton (Midland Railway Co.), W. H. Melvin, W. S. Mitchell, F. Bingham, W. J. Lauder (Midland railway officers), J. Brady (Midland Railway Union), R. G. Drake, D. M. Bain, W. E. Pickering (general secretary Y.M.C.A.), C. G. Ferguson (representing Carnamah sub-branch of the R.S.L.), C. Clementson, J. F. Gundill, A. H. Hunt, A. A. Cook, H. Evett, W. Jacks, G. H. Taylor, A. Burdett, A. Cope, H. Laurissen, H. Davies, K. Sykes, J. Pereria, C. A. Mettam, H. B. Saunders (Bankers and Traders), P. T. Morcombe, T. C. Bogue, H. Walker, B. R. Chandler, F. J. Darling, J. L. Bruce, A. J. Hollingsworth, H. J. Foreman and W. Sutton (Elder Smith & Co. Ltd), G. Ryan and A. Ramsay; Mesdames A. Ramsay, H. Laurissen, H. Davies, H. Davies, D. Gray, A. Walker, A. J. Hollingsworth, Misses A. L. Kidd, M. Bogue, G. Cosgrove, and H. Walker.
Floral tributes were received from the following:- his loving wife and son, Stanley, his sister Violet and brother-in-law William, Winnie and June, The Midland Railway Employees' Union, Guy, Maude and Millie Greenwood, Mr. And Mrs. H. T. Melvin, The staff of the Y.M.C.A., the Bingham family, Mr. and Mrs. P. Morcombe and family, Mr. and Mrs. D. McDonald and family, Mr. and Mrs. J. Lampard and family, Preston and Vi, Mr. and Mrs. A. Rudduck, Mr. and Mrs. S. B. Rudduck and family, Blanche and Baxter [Bothe], the Sporting Bodies and Residents of Coorow, Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Melvin and family, the Captain and Members of the Coorow Rifle Club, the Management and Staff of Elder Smith & Co., the Carnamah Sub-Branch R.S.L., Mr. and Mrs. S. Ferguson, Committee and Members Y.M.C.A. Athletic Club, Mr. and Mrs. M. L. Patton and family, Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Bierman and family, Olive and Don [Walker], Chairman, Secretary and Members of the Carnamah Road Board, Mr. and Mrs. R. W. Clark and family, The Attorney and Executive Officers of the Midland Railway Company, Mr. and Mrs. C. W. J. Long, Mrs. Kidd, Annie and Dorothy, and many other floral tributes."
| Reference: Carnamah Historical Society & Museum and North Midlands Project, 'William Charles Cox' in Biographical Dictionary of Coorow, Carnamah and Three Springs, retrieved 20 April 2024 from www.carnamah.com.au/bio/william-charles-cox [reference list] |
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